Pneumatic pistol



Oct. 10, 1950 A. LAWRENCE 2,525,689

PNEUMATIC PISTOL Filed Feb; 28, 1946 INVENTOR.

ANDREW LAWRENCE Patented Oct. 10, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE PNEUMATIC PISTOL Andrew Lawrence, New York, N. Y., assignor of one-half to Stephen E. Laszlo, New York, N. Y.

8 Claims.

This invention relates to pneumatic pistols, and provides improvements therein.

Pneumatic pistols are used mainly for sports, target practice, and target shooting contests, for example.

The invention provides improvements by means of which a larger than usual pneumatic propulsive charge is obtained, and also by means of which the charging of the pistol with such a large pneumatic propulsive force is obtained without the exertion of excessive effort. The invention further provides improvements in the breech mechanism, and in the general combination by which simplification, reliable operation, and durability are obtained.

An embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, wherein Fig. 1 is a view partly in side elevation and partly in section.

Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. 1 illustrating the use of the pistol barrel as a lever for storing energy in a spring which is releasable to produce the pneumatic charge.

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view of a part of the pistol illustrating the means for locking the pistol barrel to the frame.

Fig. 4 is a transverse section on the line A-A Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a view of a part of the breech mech anism, looked at from the inside.

Fig. 6 is a detail view of a connection between the piston head and sleeve.

Referring to said drawing, numeral I0 designates the barrel, numeral [2 designates the frame to which the barrel is pivoted, as indicated at M, and numeral I6 designates a stock or handgrip attached to the frame [2. The frame l2 extends to a point near the front of the barrel and the barrel is pivoted to the front end of the frame.

The barrel l0 comprises a solid (except for the bore) front section 20, and a tubular section 22 attached to the front section and extending rearwardly. The rear part 23 constitutes a cylinder within which air is compressed. Also attached to and extending rearwardly from the front section 20 of the barrel, concentric with the bore in the front section 20 and with cylinder 22, is a tube 24 constituting a rear extension of the bore in the front section 20. Within the tubular section 22 and surrounding the tube 24, and closely fitting each, is a piston-head 26. On the piston-head 26 is a forwardly extending sleeve 28 having at its forward end a flange which fits the inside of the tubular section 22of the barrel. The length of the sleeve is approximately one-half that of the inside of the tubular section 22. The sleeve 28 is advantageously made separate from the piston-head 26 and connected thereto in a suitable manner to admit of some play of the piston-head independently of the sleeve and thus avoid any likelihood of the sleeve binding the movement of the piston-head. As shown in Fig. 6, the sleeve 28 may be connected to the piston-head 26 by an inturned flange 21 fitting within a groove 29 in the pistonhead. Within the sleeve 28 and around the tube 24 is a stout coil spring 32. The ends of spring 32 bear on, and react against, the front barrel section 26 and the piston-head 26. The pistonhead 26 may be provided with a groove 35 which serves as a locking notch, as explained hereinafter. The piston-head 26 mayhave other similar grooves for a packing (not shown), or another suitable form of packing may be provided. The rear of tubular section 22 is closed (partially) by a breech-piece 38. Tube 24 extends through breech-piece 38 with some clearance so that air may flow from cylinder 23 into tube 247 The clearance also acts to avoid any binding of the piston-head on tube 24.

Threaded on breech-piece 38 is a breech cap 46, having a hole 42 therein concentric with the bore in tube 24, and through which bullets or pellets are placed in the bore of said tube, one of the pellets being shown in place in tube 24 in Fig. *1. Pivoted to one of said breech parts, 38 Or 46, as the breech piece 38, as indicated at 43, is a breech-block 45, which bears on the breech piece 38 in its closed position. The breech.- piece 38 may, however, be provided with a packing annulus 46 against which the breech-block 45 directly bears. Breech-block 45 has an opening 41 which registers in its open position with the bore in tube 24, and also with the hole 42 in cap 40. A connection is provided for entraining the breech-block 45 with the rotation of cap 40, so that the breech-block is moved by the cap to a position to open or close the breech piece to the outside. Such a connection is advantageously provided by a coil of a spring 52, attached at one end to the breech-block and at its free convolution bearing frictionally against the inside of cap 46. Turning of cap 40 simultaneously turns breech-block 45 on its pivot 43 to close the breech piece by moving opening 4! out of register with 3 finger pieces 55 and a sear 5! pivoted to the barrel as indicated at and having a nose 6! adapted to engage the locking notch or groove 35 in the piston head. 25 to hold the spring 32 in its compressed condition. The sear til is normally pressed into notch engaging position by means of a spring t3 supported by a transverse plate 66, fixed in a suitable manner to the barrel. The pressure of the spring 32 being strong, when fully compressed, a strong pull on the trigger would be required to disengage the nose 65 from the notch 35 in the piston-head 26, and thereby release the spring. In order to provide for a light pull on the trigger, a scar releasing device is provided between the trigger 55 and the sear. The scar releasing device comprises a lever 65 pivoted to the frame as indicated at 6'? and having a slot 69 therein through which the pivot pin passes, so that the lever 65 can not only turn on its pivot, but also slide thereon. The scar 53' is provided with a tail H which is contacted by the lever E55 01'' the sear releasing device. The lever 65 is acted upon by a fairly strong spring 13 acting in the direction to turn the lever $5 around pivot 6? to contact tail ii of sear 51. In the cooked position of the trigger mechanism the lever 65 is prevented from turning on its pivot by the engagement of a nose 55 with a suitable stop, as the plate G5, the lever 65, as shown in Fig. 1, being at this time shifted on its pivot pin El into close proximity to the trigger 55. A pull on the trigger 5'5 shifts the lever 65 on its pivot pin 6'. and disengages the nose T5 of the lever from the stop 65, and under the pressure of the spring l3, the lever '55, when so re leased from the stop 56, turns about its pivot, contacts the tail ii of the sear, and turns the scar on its pivot, thereby releasing the pistonhead 26 which is under the action of the compression spring 32. After the lever 65 has been released from the stop 56, it comes in contact with a pin or the like '1 on the frame !2, and a cam portion 13 on the le er 65 coacting with the pin 7! shifts the lever 65 forwardly on its pivot pin (il so that when the pistol is re-charged and the trigger mechanism re-cocked, the nose it} will lie under the stop 6%, as will be more fully explained later on. A further advantage of this trigger mechanism lies in the fact that it enables the user to practice the technique of trigger pulling without loading merely by opening the gun just sufficiently to cook the trigger, and closing it again.

The mechanism for charging th pistol, that is, storing energy in the spring 32 bearing on the piston head 28, to compress air in the cylinder 23, by which compressed air the bullet or pellet is projected, will now be described. As previously described, the barrel is pivoted to the frame l2 by pin i i, as best seen on Fig. 2. Numeral 8B designates a hook, in the form of a. slide which projects through a slot 82 in the forward part of the tubular section 222, which hook 8G is adapted to engage the flange 36 on the sleeve 28 which is formed on or forms an extension of the piston head 26. The hook slide 80 is retained in the barrel by suitable means, for example arcuate wings which lie against the inside of the tubular section 22. Pivotally attached to the sliding hook St], as indicated at 8? is a link 8, and the opposite end of the link 88 is pivotally attached to the frame i2 substantially rearward of barrel pivot i i, as indicated at 9B. By grasping the barrel in one hand and the stock 16 in the other, and turning the barrel on the pivot l4,

4 the spring 32 is compressed by the pull of link 88 and slide hook 8b which engages the flange as on the sleeve 28 attached to the piston-head 26. The spring 32 is compressed between the piston-head 26 and the section 20 of the barrel. When the spring 32 has been fully compressed the nose SE of the sear 57 en ages the notch or groove 35 in the piston-head 2B, and retains the spring 32 in its fully compressed condition. The barrel is then turned back around pivot HZ until the barrel and frame are brought together. The construction and arrangement of the link 88, the slide hook and pivots 8i and 9B are such that the barrel may be swung approximately from the frame in the act of charging the pistol (that is, compressing the spring 32), and the link 88 pulls on said spring first from one side of its pivot Qt and then from the other side, and in this manner it is possible to obtain a large amount of spring compression and thereby store a relatively large amount of force in the compressed spring. Moreover, a good leverage is obtained between the barrel and the connection of the slide hook to and link 88 to the frame, so that the charging of the pistol may be effected without the exertion of excessive eifort. Moreover, the construction is so arranged that the point of engagement of the hook slide 8% with the St is in line or very nearly in line with the pull exerted through the link 88 and pins 8'! and 96 during the turning of the barrel on its pivot i lin the act of charging the pistol (compressing the spring), when the pull of the link is at the greatest angle from the axis of the barrel and this acts to stabilize the engagement of the hook slide 89 with the flange 30. and to reduce friction.

Means are provided for locking the barrel to the frame in the position in which the barrel rests on the frame. These means comprise a latch I65 slidably mounted on the frame having a nose N32 for engaging a keeper Hi l attached to the barrel. The keeper ass is conveniently combined with the stop 65 heretofore described, in the form of a stirrup or U-shaped piece attached to the barrel as shown. The latch ha longitudinal movement to bring the nose H32 thereon into and out of engagement with the keeper Hi l, and to this end it may be provided with slots 9%, Hi3, through which the pins ti and 96 pass. These pins bl and also function as pivot pins for the lever 55 and the link 83. The latch is normally pressed into latching position by a spring llil which is conveniently positioned inthe slot 563, hearing at one end against the front of the slot and at the other end against the pin 9t. A button H2, attached to the latch ltd and extending through a slot in the frame to the exterior, is provided for manually shifting the latch against the pressure of spring lid to unlock the barrel it? from the frame 52. To obtain a balanced retaining force between the barrel and the frame a second latch Hits and a second keeper are provided. Both of the latches and keepers are of similar construction and are symmetrically disposed with relation to the vertical mid-plane of the pistol. To assure equal engagement of each latch with its keeper, without the necessity of precision aw justment, latch term is entrained with latch Hi0 so as to be moved to unlocking position when latch Hit is moved to unlocking position th ough a push on button i ii. The'entrainment is effected by a laterally extending tongue I 15 on latch lilllc fitting with some looseness in a notch H6 in latch I90.

The handle it is provided with a rubber cushion I against which the frame 12 bears at its rear. The function of the cushion is to eliminate the transmission of shock, due to the discharge of the pistol, to the handle, and thereby improve the accuracy as well as the durability of the pistol.

Operation As shown in Fig. 1, the pistol-parts are in position for discharge. A pull on trigger 55 acts on lever 65 to shift it on pin 61 and thereby slides the nose 75 of the lever out of contact with stop 66. The lever 65 thereupon turns on pivot-pin 61 under the pressure of spring 13. The lever 55, in turning, contacts the tail H of sear 57 and turns the sear on its pivot pin 59 and pulls the nose 6i of the sear out of notch or groove 35. This releases the piston-head 2B, and the compressed spring 32 drives the piston head rearwardly, compressing air in the cylinder 23. The breech being closed by the breech-block 45, air iiows through the clearance between the breech piece 38 and tube 24 into the said tube H. A bullet or pellet being in place in the bore of tube 2 1, is shot or discharged from the pistol, by the compressed air, through the bores in the tube and barrel section 25,

To charge and load the pistol for another shot, the button I l2 is pushed to disengage latches Illli, Hilda from the keepers I04. The rear end of the barrel H3 is grasped with one hand and the stock It with the other, and turned apart around the pivot pin [4. The hook-slide 80, after the discharge of the pistol, is in engagement with the flange on the sleeve 28 attached to the pistonhead 25, and the turning apart of the barrel and stock causes the hook-slide 80, through the pull on link 82, to pull the piston-head 26 to the front, compressing spring 32. When the piston-head 26 has been pulled all the way forward, the nose iii of sear 5i engages notch in the piston-head and holds the piston-head against the compression force of the spring 32. The barrel l0 swings through an arc of approximately 130 from the stock it and a large amount of compression of spring 32 is effected. The favorable leverage at which the turning force exerted on the barrel ii] is transmitted through the link 88 to the pistonhead 25 enables the spring 32 to be thus strongly compressed without the exertion of excessive effort. After the sear engages the piston-head 26, the barrel is then swung back tobring the barrel and stock together. After the release of the lever 65 from stop as the cam 19 on the lever comes into contact with the pin 11. Due to the combined action of the spring 13 and cam 19, the lever 65 is shifted forward on its pivot pin 6?, and is thus in position for its nose 15 to be contacted by the stop 56 at the approach of the stop 66 as the barrel ill is turned back onto the stock. In the latter part of the turning movement of the barrel onto the stock the lever is pushed down and its spring i3 re-compressed. When the barrel is finally turned back onto the stock, latche lllll, llli a engage the'keepers I04, and. the barrel and stock are held locked together.

To insert a bullet into the breech, the cap 40 is turned, causing the breech-block 45 to be turned on its pivot 43 by the drag of spring coil 52 on the cap, and the hole 47 in the breech-block is thus brought into register with the bore of tube 24. A bullet is then inserted through the hole 4'! into the bore of tube 25, and the cap 40 turned in the reverse direction to turn the breech-block 45 outwardly on its pivot to closing position. This carrise the hole ll out of register with the bore of .tube 24. Simultaneously with the turning of the breech-block, the cap Ml acts to press the breechblock against the breech-piece 32 (on the packing annulus t5 thereon) and thus close the breech. The pistol is now in condition for a second shot.

Trigger practice may be done without moving the barrel and stock apart to the extent that the spring 32 is fully compressed and the sear 5'! engaged with the piston head 26. For trigger practice the barrel 22 may be turned away from the stock IE only to the relatively slight extent required to raise the stop 66 slightly above thenose "E5 of lever 65 after the latter has been released and is resting against the stop 17. Then, by turn ing the barrel 22 back onto the stock, the nose 75 of lever 65 will be engaged by stop 56, compressing spring l3, thus re-cocking the pistol. When trigger 55 is pulled, and the nose "E5 of the lever 55 is slid out of engagement with stop 65, thereby the pistol. The sear 5i will be actuated in the normal manner, though its movement will be an idle one, since there will be no release of the piston-head 25, the spring 32 not having been cornpressed and the piston-head being at the breech end of the cylinder 23.

The invention is applicable to air-guns, and the word pistol in the specification and claims is not to be understood as excluding air-guns.

What is claimed is:

1. A pneumatic pistol, comprising a frame and a barrel, said barrel comprising a long tubular section having a' piston-head therein, a forwardly extendingsleeve attached to said piston-head, a flange on said sleeve, a coil spring within said sleeve, reacting on said piston-head, a hook for engaging the flange on said sleeve, and a link pivotally connected to said hook and to said frame, said barrel being pivoted to the front end of said frame, and said link being pivoted to said frame behind the pivot for said barrel and extending rearwardly when the barrel is turned down on the frame, said barrel thereby acting as a lever for compressing said spring when turned away from said frame on its pivot, the said hook connected to said link being pulled forward as the barrel is turned on its pivot, pulling with it said sleeve and thereby compressing said spring.

2. A pneumatic pistol comprising a frame and a barrel, a piston-head in said barrel, a spring acting on said piston-head, a slide having a hook engaging a part of said piston-head, and a link pivotally connected to said. hook-slide, said barrel being pivoted to said frame, said link also being pivoted to said frame behind said barrel pivot and extending rearwardly fromits pivot when the barrel is turned down on the frame, the construction and arrangement of the pivots and hook being such that the hook and the two link pivots are substantially in line during the pull of the hook upon the piston-head, throughout the pivotal movement of said barrel acting as a lever for compressing said spring.

3. A pneumatic pistol according to claim 1 wherein said barrel has a turning movement of approximately around its pivotal connection to the frame and wherein said link pulls. on said. spring through said hook, first from one side of its pivot then from the other.

4. A pneumatic pistol according to claim 1 wherein said barrel has a turning movement of approximately 130 around its pivotal connection of the pivots and hook being such that the hook and the two link pivots ar substantially in line during the pull of the hook upon the sleeve in compressing said spring throughout the pivotal movement of the barrel housing.

5. A pneumatic pistol according to claim 1, further comprising a breech piece at the rear end of said long tubular section, and a tube with a bore therein for a bullet passing through said piston-head, spring and sleeve and into said breech piece, said breech piece having a restricted passage for the how of compressed air from the cylinder into the rear end of said tube, acting to cushion the impact of the piston-head when re-- leased with no bullet in said tube.

6. A pneumatic pistol according to claim 5, wherein said tube has a clearance all around, between it and said breech piece, whereby said piston-head may move freely on said tube.

7. A pneumatic pistol according to claim 1' fur ther comprising a loose connection between the piston-head and the sleeve, constructed and ar ranged to provide some play of the piston-head independently of the sleeve and thereby avoid any REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 631,010 Hamilton Aug. 15, 1899 655,170 Markham July 31, 1900 927,031 Farwell et al. July 6, 1909 1,143,544 Karcher June 15, 1915 1,200,691 Aylwin Oct. 10, 1916 1,250,304 Greenleaf et a1 Dec. 18, 1917 1,487,973 Preston Mar. 25, 1924 1,545,465 Jchnstone et a1. July 7, 1925 1,551,858 Tratsch Sept. 1, 1925 1,761,993 Schmeisser June 3, 1930 2,194,142 Foss Mar, 19, 1940 2,204,370 Leiever June 11, 1940 2,204,372 McHenry June 11, 1940 2,306,668 Stevens Dec. 29, 1942 2,313,721 Berth Mar. 16, 19 13 2,371,059 Mendles Mar. 6, 1945 2,445,812 Wallach July 27, 1948 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 4,213 Great Britain 191.9 131,129 Switzerland May 1, 1929 471,596 Germany Feb. 15, 1929 586,945 Germany Oct. 27, 1933 

